It’s officially declared that humanity is 100 seconds away from its doom. The doomsday clock has had its say; it is 100 seconds to midnight. Life as you know it will cease to exist.
Doomsday, what now? Let’s back it up a little. The doomsday clock is the product of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It has been in existence for about 75 years. It all started with Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists, originally associated with the development of atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project. They founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1945 and started their annual doomsday clock 2 years later. The ominous clock is set as minutes away from midnight, with midnight being a metaphor for the “apocalypse.” The members of the organization reset the clock every year, taking into account all the geopolitical, social, and economic events of the year.
Last year, as we all know it, proved to be a trying time for humanity, so much so that people wished for the year 2020 to disappear from their lives. But silver linings cover this dark cloud as well. Hope has persevered, burning low and slow in the long shadow cast on mankind. Thus, the Bulletin has kept the time as it is for this year. One can infer from this that though threats on humanity have been great, there have been positive green shoots as well.
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Let’s take a closer look at all that happened in the last year that pushed humanity to the brink of collapse.
The most obvious happening has been the coronavirus pandemic. SARS-COV-2 has upended what we called “normal” and has replaced it with the “new normal.” Wanton loss of lives has been difficult to come to terms with. People from all backgrounds have suffered, but the burden has disproportionately been on the middle and lower class. Businesses have been disrupted, jobs have been lost, education has suffered, and isolation has led to an increase in mental disorders. The pandemic, originating in China, has exacted a great cost.
The pandemic in its wake brought an infodemic—an overabundance of information. The fake news phenomenon cannot be ignored anymore.
Fake news claimed lives as people, scared and anxious, followed quack advice to protect themselves from the biological scourge. How great a threat fake news is can be gauged by the fact that the dissipation of fake rigged election news led to the siege of the US capitol on January 6, 2021.
Another area of concern has been the actions of the now ex-president of the United States of America. Donald Trump made some unwise decisions in his tenure. These decisions have had far-reaching consequences. Withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran has encouraged Iran to renege on its commitment to ceasing nuclear weapons proliferation. Another blunder has been withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which is pivotal for bringing about any real climate mitigation. As if on a quitting important agreements and organizations spree, Trump exited from the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as the Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, which made it binding on Russia and America to retain a small nuclear arsenal. What the US does matters because it is the bellwether country—every nation keenly follows what America merits.
Speaking of the nuclear arsenal, many nuclear-powered nations, such as India, Pakistan, China, and North Korea, have increased their nuclear armor with new nuclear weapon systems. This brings to the fore the threat of a nuclear war in Southeast Asia, making it a nuclear hotspot.
Mother Nature has been troubled the most and has manifested her misgivings. The massive forest fires in America and Australia are a prelude to what awaits us if we don’t mend our ways. The increase in frequency and intensity of cyclones and hurricanes are a testimony to the wrath that can be unleashed if we don’t wake up now.
Make no mistake! This is a wake-up call for humanity. But what matters is who is willing to heed it.
Looking on the bright side, there have been some positive developments as well to potentially offset the negatives. The newly elected American president Joe Biden has reversed most of his predecessor’s missives. The future is looking up.
The year gone by has been one of trials and tribulations but what has stood out has been the grit of human mettle. This fills me with hope. Maybe at the precipice, people will change.
